Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide for Reeves County, Trans-Pecos, Big Bend of West Texas

Sports

Friday, January 9, 1998

Eagles host Greenwood, Sweetwater

PECOS, Jan. 9 -- One game into the District 4-4A girls
basketball schedule, the Pecos Eagles are right where they
were a year ago. But they don't want to repeat the results
of the final nine games of last year's schedule, and will
get their first chance to change that tonight, when they
host the Sweetwater Mustangs in a 6 p.m. start.

It's the first game of a doubleheader at the Pecos High
School gym, and will be followed by Pecos' boys, who'll
close out their pre-district schedule with a 7:30 p.m. game
against the Greenwood Rangers.

The Eagles opened district last year with a win over Fort
Stockton, but then dropped their final nine 4-4A games, and
ended up with a 6-17 season mark. In contrast, Tuesday's
52-31 district-opening win at Fort Stockton was the Eagles'
seventh straight victory, and improved their season record
to 11-7.

Lorie Marquez scored 18 points to lead Pecos, despite
playing only four minutes in the first half, while Penny
Armstrong had 10 of her 15 points in the opening periods.
However, the Eagles will need a better start tonight than on
Tuesday to defeat the Mustangs, who had a strong
pre-district despite Tuesday's 43-29 loss to Andrews in
their 4-4A opener.

"Nobody expects anything out of us, so all we have to do is
go out there and play real hard on Friday," said Eagles'
coach Brian Williams.

Andrews beat Sweetwater in part by holding junior post
Vanessa Lehrmann to just 10 points, about half her normal
per-game average. Last year in Pecos, she and Marquez both
scored 29 points in a 61-47 Sweeetwater victory.

The boys' game against Greenwood will be their third in the
past three weeks. The Rangers won a 71-64 decision in
Midland on Dec. 19, and the Eagles came back and beat
Greenwood on Dec. 31 by a 55-51 score to win consolation at
the Reagan County Tournament.

Pecos jumped out to a 17-9 lead after one period in that
game, then had to rally after struggling in the middle
periods. On Tuesday, the Eagles won their fourth in a row,
using a 14-1 third period advantage to beat Alpine, 46-41.
It lifted Pecos' record to 12-7 on the season.

Omar Hinojos' 18 points led Pecos in that game. "We just had
to pound it into Omar because Jacob (Chavez) was off," said
Eagles' coach Mike Sadler. Chavez had just nine points,
after putting in 21 last week against the Rangers, while
Hinojos had 24 in that game.

Meanwhile, Greenwood got off to another bad start Tuesday
against the Eagles' district rival, San Angelo Lake View,
falling behind the Chiefs 23-10 in an eventual 70-63 Lake
View victory. Andrew Wootan, who had 26 points in the
Rangers' earlier win over the Eagles, led Greenwood with 18.

Switzer reaches deal to quit as Cowboys' coach

Switzer, 61, has reached an agreement with Jones to step
down as coach of the Dallas Cowboys, a source within the
organization told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that
Switzer and Jones came to the agreement this week. But it
was not clear whether Switzer will remain with the team as a
consultant. He still has several years left on a contract at
$1 million per year.

Switzer recently bought a home in the area and also owns a
restaurant.

He had to pay the price for the Cowboys' 6-10 season and
failure to make the playoffs for the first time in seven
years, although he brought the Cowboys a Super Bowl title
just two years ago.

Jones was not immediately available for comment because he
was in New York for NFL meetings, and Switzer did not answer
his home telephone.

Sources told The Daily Oklahoman on Thursday in a copyright
story that Switzer and Jones have reached a pact regarding
the remaining years on his contract, with an announcement
expected in the next two or three days.

Switzer, who replaced Jimmy Johnson four years ago, had
said that he would not stand in the way if Jones is eager to
make a change.

The fact that Switzer was not present for a major news
conference earlier this week when Jones announced the
signing of offensive lineman Larry Allen to a six-year
contract was a signal that Jones' good friend was no longer
a member of the inner circle.

Another indication that Switzer wasn't coming back was when
quarterback Troy Aikman, who complained openly about a lack
of discipline on the team this year, announced before the
regular season ended that would come back in 1998.

Critics of Switzer pointed out that Aikman wouldn't have
made such a statement unless he knew that Switzer's fate was
sealed.

Fullback Daryl Johnston was interviewed last week and said
one of the reasons the team collapsed this year was because
of lax discipline, such as Switzer allowing players to
report late for practice.

Switzer himself even said after the Cowboys' final game,
``I told Jerry he ought to fire the whole damn bunch of
us.''

Jones, however, didn't take Switzer's advice. Instead, he
came to an agreement with Switzer much as he did with
Johnson, who got a $2 million goodbye package and thanks for
winning two Super Bowl rings.

Switzer leaves with one Super Bowl ring in his four-year
stint with the team and a record of 40-24. However, the
Cowboys were 17-17 in Switzer's last two years.

Candidates to replace Switzer include George Seifert, who
left the San Francisco 49ers under strained circumstances a
year ago.

Seifert's contract with the 49ers expires in early
February, and Jones said this week he wasn't going to do
anything about the Cowboys' coaching situation until
February.

Other possible hires include Terry Donohue, former UCLA
coach; Jon Gruden, offensive coordinator for the
Philadelphia Eagles; and perhaps even someone from Switzer's
own staff such as defensive coordinator Dave Campo.

Jones has said he plans to do some coaching himself next
year, and the new candidate would have to accept having
Jones looking over his shoulder. In fact, Jones has already
drawn up plans for a 3-4 defense and other items he thinks
might help get the Cowboys back into playoff contention.

The Cowboys had been in the playoffs six consecutive
seasons before this season's power failure, when the offense
came apart from failure to score inside the 20 and constant
mental mistakes and penalties.

Campo's defense was the second-best in the NFL.

Also in danger is offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese, who
was criticized for many of his calls and Dallas' failure to
score from in close.

Jones has refused to say which of Switzer's assistants he
is keeping, although he has already secretly signed
contracts with several of them.

Williams will return for senior year

By CHIP BROWN
AP Sports Writer
AUSTIN -- Having proven himself the nation's top running
back, Ricky Williams had most people expecting he would
forgo his senior season at Texas for the big bucks of the
NFL.

He said as much himself earlier this week.

But Williams' mother, Sandy, reminded everyone that this is
her son we're talking about.

The same son who started wearing dreadlocks six years ago
when she didn't want him to.

The same son who went and got his nose and tongue pierced,
knowing she wouldn't approve.

``Everyone says that Ricky marches to the beat of his own
drum,'' she said, smiling. ``And that's true. He likes being
different.''

But Williams announced Thursday, to thunderous applause from
about 100 people at a news conference, that he's changed his
mind and will return for his senior season at UT.

Even Mrs. Williams seemed a bit surprised by her son's
decision, but quickly added, ``I get to wear `My son is No.
11' button another year.''

Williams said he thought of the millions of dollars, of
perhaps being the top running back taken in the April NFL
draft. But then, he said, he thought of all his friends
having fun without him next year at Texas.

``Money can't buy friends, fun and loyalty,'' Williams said.

Williams, a 6-foot, 220-pound junior with 4.4 speed, earned
All-America honors and the Doak Walker Award as the nation's
top back after finishing as 1997's leading rusher and scorer
with 1,893 yards and 25 touchdowns.

He was told he could go as high as the fourth pick in the
NFL draft in April, he said.

``When I came here three years ago, I set a lot of personal
and team goals -- to win a lot of games, maybe win the
Heisman and get my degree -- and that's why I've decided to
come back for another year,'' Williams said.

Once the applause quieted, new coach Mack Brown exclaimed,
``We have just had a successful recruiting year!''

Mrs. Williams said her son changed his mind several times.

``He signed his paperwork to enter the NFL draft and then
told our attorney to hold off,'' she said. ``Ultimately, I
think Ricky didn't want to be in some unfamiliar city next
year and be miserable while his friends were still having
fun in Austin.''

Williams said he spoke to several other players who faced
the same decision. He said he was most inspired by Andre
Wadsworth of Florida State, who told Williams how much fun
he had as a senior.

Williams finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting this
season and was overshadowed by Texas' failure as a team,
which hurt him in the Heisman chase.

The Longhorns tumbled from Big 12 champions in 1996 to 4-7
flops in 1997. The fall cost coach John Mackovic his job and
led to the hiring of Brown.

``I felt no pressure from coach Brown,'' Williams said.
``One of the big reasons I'm coming back is because coach
Brown has everyone thinking the team is going to be better
next year and will work a lot harder.''

Williams, who spends his summers as a minor-league baseball
player for the Philadelphia Phillies, said he isn't
concerned about risking injury.

``I'm not afraid of getting hurt,'' he said. ``You can't
live life like that.''

Williams said he obtained a $2.8 million insurance policy to
protect him against a career-ending injury.

Among Williams' top personal goals, he said, is the Division
I career rushing record of 6,082 yards set by Pittsburgh's
Tony Dorsett from 1973-76.

Asked if he knows how close he is to catching Dorsett,
Williams drew laughter from the crowd when he said, ``I
think it's like 1,926 yards,'' missing by only a couple of
yards.

Williams needs 1,928 yards, 35 more than he ran for as a
junior, to catch Dorsett, who went on to NFL stardom with
the Dallas Cowboys.

Williams also is 20 rushing touchdowns from the NCAA's
career record of 64 set by Indiana's Anthony Thompson from
1986-89.

``I felt this year I put up Heisman numbers, so that's not
as important going into next year,'' said Williams, who had
a school-record six 200-yard games. ``It's more important
for us to win ballgames.''

Williams' return probably will make him UT's all-time
leading rusher, since he's only 288 yards behind the 4,443
yards gained by 1977 Heisman Trophy winner Earl Campbell
while with the Longhorns.

``No matter what I do I will always be `Little Earl' and
this will be Earl Campbell's school,'' the San Diego native
said. ``That's fine because I'm not even from Texas.''

LL to elect new president during meeting

PECOS, Jan. 9 -- The Pecos Little League will hold a meeting
at 8 p.m. tonight in Saragosa Hall to elect a new league
president and other officers for the 1998 season.

All coaches for Little League, Junior League and Senior
League teams are urged to attend, current president Steve
Reyes said.

Elks' hopp shoot set Saturday

PECOS, Jan. 9 -- The Pecos Elks' Club will hold their annual
hoop shoot competition on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at
the Pecos High School gym.

The contest is open to boys and girls ages 8-13 and will be
divided into three divisions. Winners will advance to
regional completion at the PHS gym later this month.